Victory Comes From Within
}} The sudden unexpected encounter with Xykon and Redcloak leads to all out melee between the Order of the Stick and Team Evil. Belkar is killed by a Meteor Swarm just as Vaarsuvius arrives to save the day. Finally Roy uses the Feat he learned from his grandfather to defeat Xykon. Except it turns out it was all a phantasm placed by Girard Draketooth and none of this is real. Cast * The Order of the Stick ** Roy Greenhilt (also charmed) ◀ ▶ ** Haley Starshine (also charmed) ◀ ▶ ** Elan (also charmed) ◀ ▶ ** Belkar Bitterleaf (also charmed) ◀ ▶ ** Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶ * Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶ * Xykon ◀ ▶ * Redcloak (one-eyed) ◀ ▶ Transcript Haley: Crap! Crap! Crap! Roy: The goblin! Shoot the goblin! Roy attacks Xykon with Greenhilt, "slash!" Xykon: Whoa! Where's the witty hero-villain reparté? Xykon: What kind of lifeless abomination do you take me for? Elan (singing): ♪♪Fight, fight, fight, fight the main villain way before we were expecting it!♪ Haley: Sneak attack! Haley fires three magic arrows at Redcloak, "fft! fft! fft!", and two hit, "thnk! thnk!" '' '''Xykon': Hey! No one shoots the goblin in the face but me! Xykon: Energy Drain! Roy: Does everyone have to make jokes? Can't you just DIE??? Roy slashes Xykon again, green flames leaping from Greenhilt, "SCHRTTK!" '' '''Xykon': Hey, I felt that one! I guess you took my advice and leveled up. Redcloak: Heal. Roy: Then you DO remember me! Xykon: When I'm done with you, memories are all that'll be left. Xykon: Other people's, that is. I'm not going to turn you into, like, some sort of memory spirit or something. Xykon: Though that sounds pretty metal, actually. I should make someone research it. Xykon: Meteor Swarm. The party is hit by the meteor swarm, with one meteor targeting Belkar, one for Haley, and two for Roy. They are engulfed in flames. Elan: Roy! Belkar's dead!!♪♪♪ Roy: Keep fighting! They'll kill us all if we turn and run! Xykon: That's actually true. Redcloak: Lord Xykon, please don't point out to the scrappy underdogs that they've got nothing left to lose. Xykon: Oh, right. Elan: Mass Cure Light Wounds! Roy: Haley, I have an idea to fight Xykon…or more of a memory. Can you take out the cleric? Haley: I'm trying, but he can heal faster than I can hurt him! Xykon: Didn't these bozos used to be more of a threat? Redcloak: They seem to have lost their main casters. Harm. Xykon kills Mr. Scruffy, who had lunged at him in anger. Vaarsuvius: Not lost. Merely misplaced. Vaarsuvius: Forcecage. Redcloak is trapped in a forcecage. Elan: Vaarsuvius! Haley: You're alive!! Vaarsuvius: My superior elven hearing led me to believe that you had a stratagem if the cleric became neutralized? Xykon: Hey! No one puts the goblin in a confined space but me! Redcloak: Sir, you used that line already. Roy: OK…This'll work…just like I practiced…Picture the flow of energy around him…and… Xykon (off-panel): Energy— Roy slashes with a flaming Greenhilt, "SLASH!", and the spell fizzles, "fizzle!" Xykon: —Drain?? Roy: It—it worked! Xykon: How did you do that?? I was casting defensively! Redcloak: He prevented you from doing so by timing his strike to perfectly coincide with the apex of magical energy. Xykon: Yeah, but—how?? Xylon: Meteor— Roy slashes again, "SLASH!", and again the spell fizzles, "fizzle!" Xykon:Superb Dis— "SHTHNK! fizzle!" Xykon: Greater Tele— "SKGURTCH! fizzle!" Roy impales Xykon. Roy: You're done, Xykon! Roy: This is for everyone you've ever killed, from my dad's master to the Sapphire Guard to Dorukan— Xykon: Wait—Roy— Roy: —to me! Roy bisects Xykon's skull. He dies. Haley: Holy… Elan: Roy—you did it! You beat him! Roy: I—I can't believe it. I really did! Roy: I killed Xykon! Roy: I KILLED— Belkar, Elan, Haley, and Roy stand glamoured in the hallway. Their eyes are purple spirals and mystic runes glow purple behind them. Elan drools. Roy: Xykon… Roy: …Hooray… D&D Context * Energy Drain is a 9th level spell that takes 2d4 levels away from the target, with the possibility of the drain being permanent. * Meteor Swarm is a 9th level spell that creates four meteors. Each meteor does 2d6 damage to whoever it hits and 6d6 fire damage to creatures in a 40 ft radius. Xykon is within that radius, but as demonstrated in a previous strip, he is immune to fire damage. * Harm does 10 hp/level damage, except Redcloak is applying it to Xykon, who is undead, in which case it acts like Heal and heals 10 hp/level. * Mass Cure Light Wounds is a 4th level spell that heals 1d8 hp + 1hp/level on a number of creatures up to the caster's level. * On page 1, panel 8, Xykon appears to use Burning Hands to dispatch Mr. Scruffy without explicitly calling out the spell as is usually the case. * Forcecage is a 7th level spell which creates a 10-ft cube of force around the target, blocking most spells and physical attacks. * Roy uses the Spellsplinter Maneuver here for the first time. He uses it four times in total, on page 2 in panels 3, 5, 6, and 7. Roy learned the feat from his grandfather Horace Greenhilt in the afterlife in strip #600. Trivia * Comics #885 through #889 are all part of the illusion. Note that in all the comics except #885 (before the reader is let in on the trick) the colors are all less saturated than in "real life". * In the illusion, Redcloak has the eyepatch over the wrong eye. His right eye was smitten by O-Chul, not his left, which would make him look like his brother, Right-Eye. External Links * 886}} View the comic * 282219}} View the discussion thread Category:Uses Energy Drain Category:Uses Heal Category:Uses Meteor Swarm Category:Uses Burning Hands Category:Uses Forcecage Category:Uses Mass Cure Light Wounds Category:Uses Spellsplinter Maneuver Category:Girard's Gate Destroyed